


ex mero motu

by Aylen



Series: a capite ad calcem [18]
Category: 2770 ab urbe condita - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Angst, BDSM, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Light corporal punishment, M/M, Master/Slave, Power Dynamics, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:54:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25172713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aylen/pseuds/Aylen
Summary: Ari gets frustrated, and the consequences aren't really what he expected.
Relationships: Julian Valerius/Artemis, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: a capite ad calcem [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1283009
Comments: 13
Kudos: 41
Collections: 2770 ab urbe condita - the collected fiction





	ex mero motu

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this is a spur of the moment thing I wrote after being inspired by a picrew dollmaker I did of Ari and Julian (which you can see [here](https://66.media.tumblr.com/f2aed24eb54485efff5a05c7530d4404/e6203333bbf786b6-dd/s640x960/dcbc38b68aaed9c0da07d7864665b2326800abdf.png)) where they're at the university--and it's supposed to take place in the future sometime, a year or two probably, so keep that in mind. Hope you like it!

The sun is high in the sky one afternoon as Julian marks coursework in his office, his glasses on his nose and a look of concentration on his face. Artemis watches him, with his head in his hands on the side of the glass desk, on a spare stool Julian had brought in a while ago just for him. 

But he’s _bored_. He doesn’t know why he asked to come. He didn’t have to. He could have stayed at home and gardened, or read. But here he is, waiting for Julian to finish so they can just go home again. He could probably go home himself if he wanted. Julian would let him, and he has a metrocard. 

He sighs quietly and makes a small noise, looking up at Julian, tapping his fingers on his hand. Julian glances at him briefly. 

“Mm?”

“Mmm,” Ari groans, and Julian laughs quietly, reaching over to ruffle his hair. Ari groans more. “ _Noo…_ ” he whines, childishly, pushing Julian’s hand away lightly with a small smile. Julian just laughs again, running his hands through Ari’s hair instead and making Ari huff but endure it, even leaning into the touch. “Dominus…” he whines low. 

“What is it, darling?”

“I’m bored…” 

Julian snorts, the smile still on his face as he takes Ari’s jaw in hand. Ari looks at him plaintively, putting on the puppy dog eyes. Julian hums, turning his head each way and rubbing his cheek with his thumb. 

“Well, that’s not my fault, is it?” Julian says, giving Ari’s cheek a light, playful slap. Ari whimpers at the brief sting. 

“Ow,” he moans, but he’s not really upset even as he holds his cheek. He looks at Julian sadly and his master snorts, rolling his eyes. 

“Would you like me to _find_ you something to do?” Julian asks with a slight edge to his voice, and Ari sets his jaw and turns away. No, he would _not_ like that. He makes a small noise in the hopes that Julian will forget he said anything. 

“How… how much longer do you have, Dominus?” he asks quietly after a minute, as Julian’s gone back to marking. Julian sighs and takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. 

“I’m not sure, pet,” he says, and after a second, he reaches over to pinch Ari’s ear. 

“ _Ow_!” Ari yelps, pulling away as Julian laughs, then smirks at his look of betrayal. 

“And stop asking me,” he says, as if that’s the final word on it. Ari sniffs, face warm, and pouts, wiping the hint of involuntary tears from his eyes at the brief pain. He’s not really upset, and he should have stopped whining. He grumbles as Julian watches him.

“Okay…”

Julian snorts and goes back to work. 

Ari settles on the desk again, closing his eyes and trying to nap. It’s difficult on the hard surface, with papers under his arms, but he’s so bored he actually manages it—only waking when there’s a knock at the door. He jerks up, heart pounding, and looks at Julian, who glances at him and a second later motions to the polished stone floor—but on the other side in the corner where his pillow is. Ari swallows and nods, slipping to the ground and going to the pillow, kneeling on it and leaning against the books, out of the way. 

He’s grateful Julian let him sit this one out. He’s tired and isn’t in the best mood, and annoyed at anything that keeps Julian here longer than normal. 

“Come,” Julian says, and a girl around Ari’s age comes in, in a pretty green tunic with books and a binder under her arm. Ari looks at her under his eyelashes, not bothering to hide his sudden hatred of her and any other free person who got to go to universitas to actually learn, when he didn’t.

She starts talking to Julian about one of her papers, and Ari tunes them out. 

Julian has said he could read mostly any book he wanted, and he has access to the internet. Julian even offered to let him watch video lectures for free, from himself and other teachers. Ari has taken Julian up on this, voraciously reading the textbooks that interest him and watching lectures, even attempting essays Julian assigns him. But… he knows it’s not the same. Yes, he can learn, but he can’t… _talk_ to anyone. He can’t socialize and make connections that the students here do. And he can’t apply for a job when he’s finished. 

Maybe it would be useful, if he got lucky and was able to do work for someone who needed his learned skills, but any money earned would go to Julian, probably. Or most of it. He doesn’t know. He hasn’t brought it up yet, and he’s afraid to ask. Maybe any salary would go towards paying Julian back for the education he’s gotten. That would be fair. But who knows how much he could actually _earn._ Slaves rarely get hired to do anything more than manual labour or secretarial work, data entry and call centers. _Easy jobs_ that don’t require a university degree. 

And even if he could get an actual degree… why would Julian let him work? He’s a _bed slave._ He’s here to keep Julian company, warm his sheets, and be an outlet for any and all sexual urges his master has. He’s no better than a fucktoy who talks, amuses and distracts Julian with conversation. Why would Julian let _him_ work?

Ari leans against the books sadly, fidgeting with the spine of one. 

“Oh, your slave is so cute, sir, if I may say so,” the girl says, apparently done with her conversation. The expression drops off Ari’s face at the words as he clamps down on the urge to growl at her. He’ll show her _cute._

Julian chuckles and reaches over to ruffle Ari’s hair. He flinches. “You can say so, Quintilla,” he says. “I’m sure he appreciates your words.”

Ari frowns and tenses, and pulls away when she draws nearer, hand outstretched, as if to pet him, too. He flushes warmly in embarrassment and wraps arms around himself, indicating he’s _not_ in the mood. His lip curls before he can stop it as he glares at the floor, hating her all the more. 

“Probably not the best time, dear,” Julian says with a small laugh, stroking Ari’s neck. He grits his teeth, wanting to pull away. 

“Oh, okay, I’m sorry. Well, can I give him a treat, at least?” she asks, opening the pocket of her satchel. Ari’s lip curls further as she leans down to hand him something. He doesn’t look at it. 

A second passes before Julian speaks, clearing his throat. 

“ _Take it, pet,_ ” he orders, and Ari’s face twists indignantly but he holds out his hand. She drops a wrapped sweet in his hand with a hopeful smile and he nearly rolls his eyes, curling his hand back up and taking it back, still glaring at the floor. “…What do you say?”

“Thank you, miss,” Ari bites out, face heating with indignation. 

She smiles, but her eyes are a bit sad as she shrugs. “Thank you for seeing me, magister,” she says. 

“Any time, Quintilla,” Julian says brightly as she leaves. When the door is closed behind her, Julian reaches down and grabs Ari’s ear again, pinching it hard until he whimpers. 

“ _Ow…_ ” he whines, fresh tears coming to his eyes. “What was that for?” he mumbles another whine, knowing perfectly well what it was for. And Julian pinches him again for it. “ _Nnn… ah…_ ”

“You know perfectly well what it was for,” Julian hisses, finally releasing him roughly. He whimpers and holds his ear as it throbs, pain radiating down his neck. He sniffs. “You were perfectly rude to that girl, and you knew it. I don’t mind that you don’t like any of the students here. I understand that. But you _can’t_ be rude to them, because what happens when they complain? Or word gets around that I have an unruly slave? Hm? Artemis? My reputation is on the line. And what’s more, I’ll probably get called in and asked to discipline you.” Julian’s voice sounds distressed at this, and it softens his words. “Or told I can’t bring you here anymore. It’ll be far more difficult for you to read from my office, and the _bibliotheca_ , when you’re banned from the premises. Is that what you want, Ari?”

Ari swallows another whine, and mumbles something else that sounds a lot like, “Maybe,” even as he immediately regrets it. Julian hisses. 

There’s silence until Ari hears him tapping his pen against the table. He flinches at the noise, feeling warm with nervousness. 

_Merda._

Another minute passes. 

“…I’m sorry, Dominus,” he says finally, putting the wrapped sweet on the floor to hold his own sweaty hands. “I knew I shouldn’t have… acted that way.” He looks away, and hears Julian sigh, and lean back in his chair, putting his pen down. The seconds tick past, the noises of the universitas low outside and in the hall. 

“It’s alright,” he says, “come here.” He puts a hand on Ari’s shoulder lightly to beckon him over and Ari turns, looking up at Julian hesitantly as Julian moves his chair back a bit for him. When he’s between Julian’s legs, his master draws him closer and holds his head gently in two hands, leaning down to kiss his head as he pets him gently. 

“I’m sorry, too,” he says. “I shouldn’t have… encouraged her. I thought it might make you feel better.”

Ari makes a small noise of sadness and leans his head on Julian’s leg, wrapping one arm around it and holding on as he closes his eyes. 

“Thank you, Dominus,” he says quietly, and sighs when Julian hums, petting and kissing him. It’s nice, and he feels the tension drip out of him.

He ends up curled up there between Julian’s legs as his master finishes his work, and he nearly falls asleep again in the surprisingly comfortable position. A few more students come in for office hours, but Julian doesn’t stir him, just holds his head and strokes his shoulders and neck soothingly as he chats with people, which keeps Ari calm and relaxed—focused on Julian. 

And finally his hours end and they leave as the sun sets. Ari sits beside Julian on the train and leans against him, head on his shoulder, not caring who would see, and Julian doesn’t seem to mind, holding his hand and stroking it lightly with one hand as he browses the news on his phone with the other. 

At home, Ari gives the candy to Pria when he sees her, giving her a smile; glad to be rid of the thing that brought him no pleasure. 

He doesn’t begrudge the girl who gave it to him, but he does wish the students wouldn’t treat him as an adorable pet they can touch and give treats to. 

And he wishes… he could be one of them, even if they are mostly awful spoiled brats. Well, he doesn’t wish he could be one of _them_ —he just wants the opportunities they have. 

As he reads from the textbook Julian’s reading later in bed that night, Ari thinks that he truly does want to get some kind of certification. He isn’t sure if slaves can get degrees, but he wants to try to get _something_. And with Julian’s help and encouragement, doing it when he has time shouldn’t be… impossible. It would probably be hard—to study _enough_ , but he could do it, with enough time. Years, double the time it would take a free student to do it, but what choice does he have? He’s lucky to be able to study at all. He’s lucky he knows how to _read_. Some slaves can’t write their own names. 

He yawns as a wave of sleepiness comes over him, and puts thoughts of education out of his mind for now, content to have a kind master who lets him read, well, most books, anyway, and gives him _some_ freedom to be himself. 

  


**Author's Note:**

>  **Translations:**  
>  _ex mero motu_ \- out of mere impulse, or of one's own accord  
>  _bibliotheca_ \- library  
>  _magister_ \- professor  
>  _dominus_ \- master  
>  _merda_ \- shit
> 
> ~ you can also find me on tumblr at [aylenwrites](https://aylenwrites.tumblr.com/) or [milarca](https://milarca.tumblr.com/), dreamwidth at [aylen](https://aylen.dreamwidth.org/), and ao3 at [milarca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milarca)! comments are always appreciated ! ♡


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